Automating application software generation

Many approaches have been proposed to enhance software productivity and reliability. These approaches typically fall into three categories: the engineering approach, the formal approach and the knowledge-based approach. But the optimal gain in software productivity cannot be obtained if one relies on only one of these approaches. This paper describes the work in knowledge-based software engineering conducted by the authors for the past 10 years. The final goal of the research is to develop a paradigm for software engineering which integrates the three approaches mentioned above. A knowledge-based tool which can support the whole process of software development is provided in this paper.     

Evaluation of image similarity by histogram intersection

Colour is the most widely used attribute in image retrieval and object recognition. A technique known as histogram intersection has been widely studied and is considered to be effective for color‐image indexing. The key issue of this algorithm is the selection of an appropriate color space and optimal quantization of the selected color space. The goal of this article is to measure the model performance in predicting human judgment in similarity measurement for various images, to explore the capability of the model with a wide set of color spaces, and to find the optimal quantization of the selected color spaces. Six color spaces and twelve quantization levels are involved in evaluating the performance of histogram intersection. The categorical judgment and rank order experiments were conducted to measure image similarity. The CIELAB color space was found to perform at least as good as or better than the other color spaces tested, and the ability to predict image similarity increased with the number of bins used in the histograms, for up to 512 bins (8 per channel). With more than 512 bins, further improvement was negligible for the image datasets used in this study. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 30, 265–274, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20122     

Similarity retrieval of iconic image database

The perception of spatial relationships among objects in a picture is one of the important selection criteria to discriminate and retrieve the images in an iconic image database system. The data structure called 2D string, proposed by Chang et al., is adopted to represent symbolic pictures. The 2D string preserves the objects' spatial knowledge embedded in images. Since spatial relationship is a fuzzy concept, the capability of similarity retrieval for the retrieval by subpicture is essential. In this paper, similarity measure based on 2D string longest common subsequence is defined. The algorithm for similarity retrieval is also proposed. Similarity retrieval provides the iconic image database with the distinguishing function different from a conventional database.     

An experiment for showing some kind of artificial understanding

In this paper we design an experiment which can be depicted as a simple scenario, a very limited 'world'. In this world, there are an actor that can pursue a project and an observer that is keeping its eyes on the actor. We try to show in the experiment that the observer can to some degree understand the actor based on its knowledge and some metaphors, i.e. understand what the actor is doing and why. As the conclusion of this experiment, we try to show some features of 'understanding'. These are (1) that 'understanding' has to be based on some preliminary knowledge; (2) that 'understanding' is a process of incremental learning; (3) that, as for symbolic systems, some metaphors are necessary for mapping real entities into concepts in mind.     

The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: The Women's Health Initiative.

This study examined whether widowhood was associated with physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes using a cross-sectional (N=72,247) and prospective (N=55,724) design in women aged 50-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative observational study (85.4% White). At baseline, married women reported better physical and mental health and generally better health behaviors than widowed women. Whereas women who remained married over the 3-year period showed stability in mental health, recent widows experienced marked impairments and longer term widows showed stability or slight improvements. Both groups of widows reported more unintentional weight loss over the 3-year period. Changes in physical health and health behaviors were inconsistent, with generally small effect sizes. Findings underscore the resilience of older women and their capacity to reestablish connections, but point to the need for services that strengthen social support among women who have difficulty during this transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anaerobic biodecolorization of textile reactive anthraquinone and phthalocyanine dyebaths under hypersaline conditions.

The biological decolorization of two industrial, spent textile reactive dyebaths was investigated using a suspended-growth, halophilic mixed culture fed with glucose. Dyebath I contained mainly Reactive Blue 19 (RB19), an anthraquinone dye, whereas dyebath II contained mainly Reactive Blue 21 (RB21), a phthalocyanine dye. Batch assays under anaerobic conditions with the two neutralized dyebaths resulted in 87 and 37% extent of decolorization for dyebaths I and II, respectively. The rate of glucose utilization and the extent of acetate production were impacted in the presence of each dyebath as compared to the control culture. However, dyebath decolorization occurred despite moderate culture inhibition. Reuse of a biologically renovated RB19-containing dyebath in the dyeing process resulted in reproducible but not identical cotton fabric shades as compared to a standard dyeing (i.e., control) using fresh water. This difference is attributed to a variable degree of RB19 aggregation during the dyeing process and is not related to the efficiency of the biodecolorization process. Further improvement of the redyeing efficiency will lead to the development of an in-plant, closed-loop decolorization system resulting in significant water conservation and minimization of textile pollutants such as salt and dyes.     

Managing change with CAD and CAD/CAM

A model is developed for the analysis of factors influencing organizational and technological changes associated with CAD and CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacture). Different pressures for adoption and the sociopolitical environment of the organization and related to managerial strategies and their impact on skills, tasks, training, and changes in work organization. Opportunities are illustrated through the experiences of seven British engineering companies implementing the technologies. Six of the companies are in manufacturing and one is an engineering services organization. Four of the companies are of small to medium size (under 500 employees) and the other three are large, multisite organizations. Key elements of the technological change are identified, and the position of the seven companies in relation to these elements is summarized and discussed     

Applying CIM technology to image factories

Image processing allows the automation of the business transaction, turning “paper factories” into “image factories.” This burgeoning new area of computerization needs new paradigms, theories, and methods to maximize its effectiveness at cutting time and costs. This paper investigates what this new area of computerization can gain from CIM technology. It examines the similarities between the processing of computer images in a paperless business environment and the processing of materials into products in the manufacturing plant. These similarities will allow us to apply mature, well-tested CIM techniques to emerging image factories.